Cook County residents evacuated twice from BWCA under different closure orders

As drought and active wildfires impact the most visited wilderness area in the nation, the U.S. Forest Service announced Aug. 21 that overnight permits to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will not be issued at this time and all backcountry access is prohibited until further notice. Day trips to the BWCA are not allowed under the closure.

In other words, the BWCA is closed.

News of the closure spread quickly throughout the paddling community. Among the last to hear of the closure, however, were canoe campers who were on a trip to the BWCA when the closure was announced.

Closures to the BWCA impacted WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast host Matthew Baxley and podcast contributor Lindsey Gau not just once, but twice last weekend.

They shared their story with WTIP in the audio below.